Young people feeling less secure?

Sunday

Sep 11, 2011 at 12:01 AMSep 11, 2011 at 7:25 AM

Joumana Khatib has spent a decade seeking to comprehend the events of Sept. 11. "I was so young and innocent, just 10, when it all happened," she said of the attack on the United States that killed nearly 3,000 people and redefined the world. • Today, the 20-year-old Kenyon College junior thinks she has the maturity and intellectual capacity to confront the tragedy and understand its place in her life.

Joumana Khatib has spent a decade seeking to comprehend the events of Sept. 11. "I was so young and innocent, just 10, when it all happened," she said of the attack on the United States that killed nearly 3,000 people and redefined the world. • Today, the 20-year-old Kenyon College junior thinks she has the maturity and intellectual capacity to confront the tragedy and understand its place in her life.

Most scholars say it is too soon to discern the long-term effects of 9/11 on today's 20-somethings. They generally agree, though, that the attack, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the economic crises that followed have destroyed young people's sense of security, heightened their awareness of global events and challenged the perception that the United States will always be the world's most powerful and prosperous nation.

Traumatic events during children's formative years can be pivotal in the development of their views of themselves, others and the world, said Christine Suniti Bhat, an assistant professor of counseling education at Ohio University.

Young people today, for instance, might have a stronger feeling that life is unpredictable and that they must be cautious because innocent people can die, she said. Or they might think that people who look Middle Eastern or Muslim can't be trusted.

Khatib, whose father is Lebanese, remembers being one of the only families of Middle Eastern ancestry in her Upper Arlington neighborhood at the time of the attack.

"A lot of people looked to my mom to explain the demographics and ideology of the Middle East even though she grew up Protestant/Methodist in Worthington," she said.

Khatib said her mother cautioned people against embracing an us-versus-them mentality and explained that every culture has its fanatics.

Those who have grown up since 9/11 also have not known a world without terrorist alerts and war.

"They've grown up taking for granted the threats that we face," said Nikole Hotchkiss, a visiting assistant professor of sociology and legal studies at Kenyon College. "I have to explain to them that the Patriot Act and the policies that we have didn't always exist and there were other options and why the U.S. decided on this certain path."

Given the economic and political uncertainty, the so-called millennial generation (generally those born between 1980 and 2000) also is less optimistic about the future than the baby boomers before them, several scholars said.

"They don't know if they will be able to find a good job after they graduate or if their parents will be able to hold onto their homes," said David Stebenne, an associate professor of history and law at Ohio State University.

Marie Claire Hansford, 24, of the West Side, worries that her 6-week-old daughter won't be better off than she is.

"It seems like the one thing we could always count on in this country is that our lives would likely be better than our parents', our grandparents' and great–grandparents,'?" Hansford said. "I don't think that's the case anymore."

The attack ended people's confidence in the country's political, economic and cultural dominance, said Michael Flamm, a history professor at Ohio Wesleyan University.

"We've witnessed a significant loss of optimism, faith and confidence in the future," Flamm said.

One reason students are feeling so stressed: They're graduating with more debt and fewer job opportunities.

"We hear about people graduating with graduate degrees who can't find work," said Jillian Dyer, a 23-year-old Columbus State Community College student. "It's disheartening."

Dyer said she chose not to go to art school because of the poor job prospects. Instead, she hopes to transfer to Ohio State University or Capital University to pursue a bachelor's degree in psychology or wildlife forestry.

All the uncertainty can undermine young people's need to feel that their lives have meaning, said Matthew Vess, an assistant professor of social psychology at Ohio University.

Not all the effects of 9/11 have been negative, though, he said.

Volunteerism among high-school and college students has risen in the years since the attack, suggesting the emergence of a new civic generation, Vess said.

The events also sparked a renewed patriotism.

"Growing up in the shadow of Sept. 11, 2001, re-emphasized for my generation that, no matter where you're from or what you believe in, that we're all Americans," said Justin Stocker, an 18-year-old Cleveland native who's attending Denison University this year.

Phillip Compton, 19, of Reynoldsburg, said the terrorist attack also reignited the country's can-do spirit.

"America is known for persevering and growing stronger," said Compton, a Columbus construction worker. "That's what will happen here."